Is the meiofauna a good indicator for climate change and anthropogenic impacts?

Our planet is changing, and one of the most pressing challenges facing the scientific community revolves around understanding how ecological communities respond to global changes. From coastal to deep-sea ecosystems, ecologists are exploring new areas of research to find model organisms that help predict the future of life on our planet. Among the different categories of organisms, meiofauna offer several advantages for the study of marine benthic ecosystems. This paper reviews the advances in the study of meiofauna with regard to climate change and anthropogenic impacts. Four taxonomic groups are valuable for predicting global changes: foraminifers (especially calcareous forms), nematodes, copepods and ostracods. Environmental variables are fundamental in the interpretation of meiofaunal patterns and multistressor experiments are more informative than single stressor ones, revealing complex ecological and biological interactions. Global change has a general negative effect on meiofauna, with important consequences on benthic food webs. However, some meiofaunal species can be favoured by the extreme conditions induced by global change, as they can exhibit remarkable physiological adaptations. This review highlights the need to incorporate studies on taxonomy, genetics and function of meiofaunal taxa into global change impact research

Is the meiofauna a good indicator for climate change and anthropogenic impacts?

Our planet is changing, and one of the most pressing challenges facing the scientific community revolves around understanding how ecological communities respond to global changes. From coastal to deep-sea ecosystems, ecologists are exploring new areas of research to find model organisms that help predict the future of life on our planet. Among the different categories of organisms, meiofauna offer several advantages for the study of marine benthic ecosystems. This paper reviews the advances in the study of meiofauna with regard to climate change and anthropogenic impacts. Four taxonomic groups are valuable for predicting global changes: foraminifers (especially calcareous forms), nematodes, copepods and ostracods. Environmental variables are fundamental in the interpretation of meiofaunal patterns and multistressor experiments are more informative than single stressor ones, revealing complex ecological and biological interactions. Global change has a general negative effect on meiofauna, with important consequences on benthic food webs. However, some meiofaunal species can be favoured by the extreme conditions induced by global change, as they can exhibit remarkable physiological adaptations. This review highlights the need to incorporate studies on taxonomy, genetics and function of meiofaunal taxa into global change impact research

Dermatitis de contacto por prótesis ortopédicas Contact dermatitis for orthopaedic prostheses

Diversas aleaciones son utilizadas en la fabricación de prótesis ortopédicas (ej: titanio, vitalio, etc), dentro de las cuales la más utilizada es la de acero inoxidable. El níquel, parte importante de esta aleación, es capaz de liberarse y provocar sensibilización, desencadenando reacciones cutáneas locales y sistémicas. De los materiales que componen la aleación para formar acero inoxidable, el níquel es el que más frecuentemente se ve implicado en reacciones cutáneas por sensibilidad, en tanto que otros como el cromo y cobalto, la posibilidad de pérdida de material a partir de la prótesis es discutida. Presentamos el caso de una paciente con dermatitis alérgica al níquel con lesiones generalizadas, que aparecieron luego del implante de prótesis ortopédicas de acero inoxidable, dando positivo para níquel sulfato en las pruebas epicutáneas.Several alloys are used in the manufacture of orthopaedics prostheses (ie: titanium, vitalium). Stainless steel is the most frequently used among them. Nickel is an important component of this alloy and may release and provoke sensitivity. Arising local and systemic cutaneous reactions. Nickel is the material composing stainless steel that ordinary is implicated in cutaneous reactions of sensitivity; the role of chrome or cobalt is still uncertain. Our patient is a woman affected of nickel contact dermatitis, with generalized reactions that appear after an implant of a stainless steel orthopaedic prosthesis. Epicutaneous tests were performed, confirming a strong sensitivity to nickel sulphate

IoT for Development: Building a Classification Algorithm to Help Beekeepers Detect Honeybee Health Problems Early

Bees are the main pollinators of most wild plant species and are essential for the maintenance of plant ecosystems and for food production. However, in recent years they are suffering from deforestation and pesticides. Here, we propose a method to identify the health status of bee colonies. We trained, validated and tested 4 classification algorithms (Naive Bayes, k-NN, Random Forest and Neural Networks) on actual data from a beehive that was monitored for 6 months. For the generation of the classification model, we take into account data from internal sensors to the hive (temperature, relative humidity, and weight), external data (temperature, pressure, wind speed, and rainfall). We also use data from inspections performed weekly by a specialist in beekeeping. We compared the four algorithms and arrived at a high precision classification model to automatically identify the health status of bee colonies

Review: Why screen for severe combined immunodeficiency disease?

International audienceNewborn screening for severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) is now routinely performed in many countries across Europe and around the world. The number of T-cell receptor excision circles (TRECs) reflects T cell levels. TREC quantification is possible using dried blood spot (DBS) samples already collected from newborns to screen for other conditions. This method is very sensitive and highly specific. Data in the literature show that the survival rate for children with SCID is much higher when the disease is detected through early screening, as opposed to a later diagnosis. Newborns diagnosed with SCID may receive the appropriate care quickly, before the onset of serious infectious complications, which raises survival rates, improves quality of life, and limits side effects and treatment costs. At the request of the French Ministry of Health, France's National Authority for Health (Haute Autorité de Santé) is expected to issue recommendations on this topic soon. The nationwide DEPISTREC study, involving 48 maternity units across France, showed that routine SCID screening is feasible and effective. Such screening offers the additional benefit of also diagnosing non-SCID lymphopenia within the infant population

BeeNotified! A Notification System of Physical Quantities for Beehives Remote Monitoring

One of the ways to reduce inappropriate management of hives and monitor bee health is to send notifications/alerts about the data collected through sensors. This study presents  BeeNotified!, a solution for sending notifications through Telegram, e-mail, and SMS. The notifications warn about the level of temperature, humidity, sound, carbon dioxide, oxygen, hive weight and delay in data gathering. From this data, researchers and beekeepers can be informed and make changes in the locations of the hives, avoiding catastrophes and possible diseases. The results obtained with the processing time in the sending of messages showed that the messages sent via SMS and Telegram have a shorter processing time compared to the sending via e-mail. In regards to sending notifications according to user preferences, all notifications were sent correctly